the pink room

2011-04-01T21:46:00.005+11:00

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa (Day 3)

We enjoyed our last few hours at Wolgan Valley with the breakfast platter, a big breakfast plate and eggs benedict.

Checkout time was at 11am, so by the time we finished breakfast, we packed our stuff and checked out. Most hotels and resorts and I know of, once you check out- that's it, you can no longer have access to the facilities. But the staff said we could still make use of the resort activities, and have lunch, etc. How awesome is that?

So we decided to have a last walk around the resort,take some pictures, which was great timing since the sun was came out. We lazed by the comfy deck chairs near the pool reading the paper and funnily enough, the waiter came up to us and asked us if we wanted drinks.

We enjoyed our last meal at the Country Kitchen- with lobster spring rolls and Ploughman's lunch plate.

We wait by the resort entrance for the 4-wheel drive to chaffeur us back to our car at the front gate. As you can see from our faces, we were sad to leave. As part of our accommodation package, we got to take away a gourmet food pack.

Our stay at Wolgan Valley was incredible. It such a wonderful place to get away, relax away from the busyness of life. It's 3 hours drive from Sydney, and it feels like you're in another world, and there's no mobile phone reception, so we were uncontactable for the whole weekend. The level of service was impressive and seamless- eg. doors magically opening, staff knowing you by name and knowing exactly which suite to deliver you to, and the resort didn't feel ostentatious or forbidding, but rather homely and comfortable.

It was the perfect place to celebrate our one year anniversary.

2011-03-26T22:41:00.001+11:00

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa (Day 2)

Ahh, the efficient morning newspaper delivery service to our door- all nicely packaged in a linen pouch.

We made our way to the dining room for breakfast, which was practically empty. In fact, the whole weekend so far seemed like it was just us. Sure there were several couples and families around, but because the property was so large, the only time we ever saw people were during meals.

Breakfast came with a set selection of crossiants, danishes, muesli, yoghurt & fresh fruit; and you could then order anything on top of that.

Shortly after breakfast, we had the beginner's horse-riding lessons at the stables, which was 5 minutes drive from The Homestead. When we got there, they had 2 horses ready for us- I got the black horse, Bandit; and Jonny got the white one, Wrangler. The instructor taught us how to mount the horse, and using the reigns to get it going and steering it. Both Jonny and I weren't too confident to ride them out in the open bush, so this lesson was good for us as we were confined to ride around the arena.

After horse-riding, we took a short walk around the resort, and decided to hang out in our room to relax and just watch some movies until our late afternoon wildlife safari. I mean, what's the point of having a gorgeous room if you can't enjoy it?

Around 5.30pm, we went along to the Wildlife safari drive around the property- similar to what we did last night, only in the light of day. We were able to see the animals much clearer, as they started to come out of the bush and into the grasslands to eat. The drive around the property was amazing. The sun had come out so we were able to see the surrounding escarpment and the gorgeous greenery.

We managed to see groups of kangaroos, wallabies & wallaroos. Left, is the first red-necked wallaby we saw on the safari, and right is a pair of wallaroos.

Dinner followed after the safari with a totally new 5-course menu. Dinner was always one of my favourite things to look forward to this weekend.

Alas, our last night shortly comes to a close. We milk the free movies & beverages for all it's worth.

2011-03-22T21:38:00.001+11:00

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa (Day 1)

With our one year anniversary approaching, we decided to go away for a long weekend near the Blue Mountains. Months earlier, I had come across this place whilst perusing through my favourite food blogs, and decided that I must definitely find a special occassion to go here!

The place is called Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa. It's about an hour's drive west of the Katoomba, and there's lengthy windy and gravelly roads to get there. I can see a four-wheel drive would get you there a lot smoother, however, my poor Mazda managed to make it through all the dust & gravel.

We arrive at stop before the security gate manned by the resort guard. He checks off our name from his list, and opens the electronic gate for us. We park our car on the gravelly car park as we won't be needing it for the weekend. Then we're asked to wait in a nicely-furnished 'waiting room' as we wait for a resort staff to chaffeur us to the actual resort site. We were even given bottles of chilled water. La-di-dah!

Even the waiting room looked expensively-decked out. Leather chairs, natural wooden tables all echo luxurious country comfort. This is the start of something wonderful. One of the resort staff arrives after 5 minutes. He gives us a bit of history and info about the property and resort as he drives us to the reception.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by one of the guest management staff, Bree, then seated at the reception desk. I love how the reception counter was actually a desk. There was even glasses of sparkling water for us at the desk (this is just the beginning of many rounds of water being offered to us). Ordinarily, hotel staff hide behind their high marble counters and behind a computer. The most striking feature is the back wall made from old fence posts that were found on the property.

Bree had taken the liberty to arrange with us what activities we'd like to do for the weekend, whether we wanted the paper delivered to us each morning, and took us for a brief tour around The Homestead before taking us to the Country Kitchen for a light lunch.

The light lunch turned out quite filling. We had the wild mushroom pie & the Ploughman's lunch plate. The Country Kitchen is open for lunch till 6pm and you can basically order anything you want from the menu and they'll make it. Even if you feel like have a coffee and piece of cake, they'll serve it right up.

After our lunch, we walked it off and went for a tour of the 1832 Homestead. 1832 Heritage Homestead, was restored by a team of specialists involving meticulous work for two years. Originally a settler's farmhouse, the property was lived in until 1950 when it eventually fell in extreme disrepair. AU$2 million was spent just on restoring the building which required 90% of all doors and windows replaced. The building is presumed to been built in 1832 as one of the stones in the fireplace has 1832 engraved into it. Charles Darwin even walked on the very timber deck that still there till this day.

The 1832 Homestead now serves as a living museum with artefacts and displays and restored pieces, including a pool table with original pool cues, and a nursing chair that was re-upholstered.

After the tour, we simply couldn't wait to see our suite. Our accommodation package included a 2 night stay at their Heritage suites, and from their website, it looked like heaven. You know that moment when you first open your hotel room with bated breath? Once we opened the door, we're greeted by the sound of mood music playing on the stereo that was already filled the room.

The bed was simply a magical place of slumbering wonder. Neither of us has slept on a four-poster bed before, but I could just spend all weekend hanging out there. By the end of the weekend, I was ready to take one home.

The mini-bar was quite impressive. The first drawer had a abundant selection of complimentary teas, and the second had a variety of mini bottles of alcohol, which they obviously charged for. Fortunately, everything in the fridge was free-of-charge- so we just basically loaded up on the non-alcoholic beverages all weekend. Too bad we weren't wine enthusiasts.

The bathroom was just as impressive- with a his n' her sinks, a sizeable bathtub and a shower with a skylight, so it looks like you're showering outside.

The rocking chairs in the back deck, and 'Wally' mascot to indicate whether you want room service to change your bedsheets.

One of the coolest things so far is the private indoor swimming pool that adjoins each suite. Accessed from an internal door in the living room, the pool measures 2.5m by 7m and is heated to 25C . There's much novelty in being able to swim whenever you like in relative privacy, and I couldn't resist a swim in the suprisingly warm afternoon.

Each suite has 2 mountain bikes complete with helmets, and the property has numerous biking tracks.

Dinner is served at The Homestead dining room, which offers a 5-course meal, with the menu changing daily. We started with an amouse bouche of seared scallop, 2 entrees, a palate cleanser, mains and dessert. Most of their fresh produce is from their vegie garden on the property. I also saw Merrick Watts of Nova 96.9 that night with his partner, who sat behind us.

(Right) The public bathrooms in this place are immaculate. They obviously don't believe in paper towels and handryers. Hand towels are provided by the sink, and there's a separate bin to place the used ones. Even the waste bin was lined in leather. (Left) The lampshade by the was made from an old drizabone coat found on the property during construction.

After dinner, we went on a Nocturnal Wildlife Safari. A field guide took us out in a four-wheel drive, and into the bush surrounding the property spot-lighting on and looking for nocturnal animals & birds. Though it was raining a bit, we managed to see the back of a wombat, some walaroos and kangaroos. One of the more rarer things we saw was an albino walaroo and male kangaroos boxing! The safari was eye-opening and educational. How often do we get to see this kind of stuff?!

It's been a long day. By 10.30pm, we made it back to our suite- via the buggy service. We came back to our suite- which was all dimly-lit, curtains drawn, candles lit with light chill music in the background, and our bed all turned out ready for sleeping (by removing all the numerous pillows). Apparently this was part of their nightly 'turn down' service- if you can imagine little elves tidying and preparing your room while you were out. They even left us petite fours by our bedside table.

We also made use of the free movie DVD selection- and watched Despicable Me on our magical cloud of a bed before going to sleep.

2011-03-17T20:44:00.000+11:00

Happenings in the last month

1. Grandma Lai's 99th birthday
2. Dinner at Mamak, Haymarket
3. Having Emma & Frankie over for dinner before their wedding
4. Having our family portraits taken in Lavender Bay
5 & 6. Dinner with Cler & Dave at Spanish Terrazza's after our haircut date

2011-02-23T19:50:00.000+11:00

I'm still here

So I haven't blogged in almost a month.
I'm still here, I just haven't been a bit lazy or tired to update anything. But this is what I've been up to in the last month-
Homegroup have started up again, work is getting quite stressful, I've had a nasty bout of gastro, a good mate of mine got married, enjoyed a lovely V-day,my grandma-in-law turned 99, and finally ate roti at the much-hyped-about Mamak. That's about it.

Oh, and I'm going to be an aunt. Woot!

2011-01-29T20:23:00.000+11:00

Australia Day

My Australia Day turned out different to what I had anticipated. I initially had no plans, so Jonny and I were going were going to go on a daytrip and picnic to the Central Coast or Blue Mountains somewhere. Learning that it was going to be 35 degrees out, we decided to go somewhere air-conditioned, so having high tea at T2 was the next best thing.

Anyway, turns out that my whole family had no plans either wanted to tag along on our date. So along they came!

T2 offers high tea for 2 at $32 including your choice from their wide range of teas. Best value of high tea I have been to! Sure beats the hotel high teas.

At night, we somehow wounded up having my brother, sister-in-law and Jonny's cousin and his wife over for dinner. Tom & Mary had just come back from living in South Africa for a year, so it was good to catch up with them again.

Dan, Fat and Mary did MTS together a few years ago when they were still single people. Now fastforward 5 years later, they're all related- because Mary married Tom who happens to be Jonny's cousin. A small world indeed.

2011-01-23T22:55:00.000+11:00

Maitland Alive Mission 2011

Maitland Alive mission took place once again last week.
Having an average 160 kids coming, the atmostphere at East Maitland Primary School where we held the summer program was buzzing every day.

This year, Jonny and I were involved in the newly-created admin team, which was basically provide admin support, oversee registration, run errands, help out in the kitchen and sections when they need help, to free up the team leaders to lead the team well and to do pastoral care.

Anyway, it was a good 4 year run doing Maitland Alive.

2011-01-02T22:23:00.000+11:00

New Year food

Foodage for the new year: Jonny perfected his potato rosti and I succesfully made poached eggs for brunch. Yummm!

2010-12-30T18:22:00.000+11:00

Daytrip to Berry

We finally found a whole day this month to go away on a daytrip together. Our first pick was Berry- mainly because Jonny wanted to try The Hungry Duck, a Mod- Asian restaurant and I wanted to go back to Haven & Space, the most awesome homewares store ever.

After lunch in the park, we wandered through homeware store after homeware store, then relaxed by Seven Mile Beach before dinner.

We had an early dinner at The Hungry Duck before the long drive back home. This restaurant brings a modern take to Asian food and is known for using organic produce.
They even have a nice vegie garden at the back where they use fresh produce for their meals.

(l-r) Organic drinks to start, followed by rice stuffed tempura zucchini flowers.

(l-r) Steamed pork buns with dipping sauce; Steamed blue eye, bok choy with chilli consomme.

(l-r) wagyu beef brisket, ending off with a kaffir and tahitian lime tart.

Twas lovely to get away and enjoy a full day with the husband with no distractions. Until next holiday...

2010-12-28T23:53:00.005+11:00

Eating my way through Christmas

Christmas Day 12.30pm: Lunch with my family at my place. A light lunch of cold meats followed by a Skype session with my relatives in Canada.

Christmas Day 7pm: Dinner with the Au relatives at my parent's place- consisted of a lovely spread of sashimi, Christmas ham and lemongrass chicken to name a few.

Following by a huge Boxing Day lunch with the in-laws, I'm proud to say I hit the gym first thing in the morning on Monday.

2010-12-23T18:10:00.000+11:00

Wrapping up the work year

The work year wrapped up yesterday in the office with a 'Hung Parliament' themed Christmas party. I'm looking forward to the 11 day break ahead.

This year, I've been very thankful to God for providing me this job. This office has been a place where I've made some good friends, nice bosses, met a few solid Christians, learnt about the design industry and challenged to do things that I've never known how to do before.

2010-12-18T17:04:00.000+11:00

Funny things about Christmas

Every year, people flock to the Domain every year to enjoy singing along to Christmas carols. Families take their kids to David Jones in the city to see the beautiful Christmas nativity window displays. They spend so much money and time fussing over buying presents and planning their Christmas parties and festivities.

Often I wonder, do they even know what they're singing about? These carols are explicit about Jesus being the son of God,and being the Saviour of this world. This is what they sing and hear about when they go to carol's nights. And yet they're ignorant of what words of these songs mean, they're opposed to people being open about Jesus, they're opposed to Jesus being taught in schools and having them replaced with Ethics. Christmas is a Christian event about Jesus, and I find it funny people who don't believe in Jesus celebrate Christmas.

Is there something seriously wrong here?

2010-12-11T20:36:00.000+11:00

Ben & Valerie's wedding

Saturday was the wedding of Ben & Val's. I knew Val from my old church, and it was lovely to have witnessed from how she first started going out with Ben all the way till their wedding day. They met at a HSC Study Camp, of all places, and the rest is history.

Their wedding ceremony was held at St Thomas Anglican Church in North Sydney, followed by a Lunch Reception in Chowder Bay. I actually quite like lunch receptions- it doesn't take up your whole Saturday, you can enjoy the daylight, and still have a good time without feeling tired or the need to go home early and wake up for church the next day. The organised couple had printed out directions for their guests to the reception location called 'Seargeant's Mess'. We drove to the carpark nearby, and shuttle buses came to ferry the guests to the venue.

The venue was absolutely beautiful and the view was stunning. The good weather certainly helped, as blue skies and sailing boats adorned the background of the reception.

It was only a matter of time when I attend weddings now that I would be seated at the 'married couples table'. At least it was heaps of fun being at the table of recent newlyweds. The food was delish, the speeches were hilarious, and of course the was incessant photo-taking at a funky venue like this.

All in all, it was a beautiful wedding. Ben & Val, wishing you every bit of happiness in your marriage!

2010-12-04T20:00:00.002+11:00

Our Christmas tree

I haven't had a Christmas tree since I was in primary school, and I thought it be nice to start some new traditions with my husband.

We bought a white tree and decorated it with blue and silver baubles. I love that white-christmassy feel it brings.

Tree $20, decorations $30. Gotta love Hot Dollar & Tarjay's!

2010-11-28T17:05:00.006+11:00

Dinner @ Coast

Jonny and I had decided to have a nice night out in the city to celebrate out 8th month anniversary. We went to Coast Restaurant for dinner, which overlooks Darling Harbour.

Amouse bouche- pea soup with goats cheese truffle

Seared scallop with mixed leaf salad; Marinated prawn with mixed leaf salad

Calamari with salad; ricotta filled canelloni with pumpkin puree

Wagyu beef with wasabi yoghurt; Palette cleanser: lemon & orange granita

Pre-dessert: Rasberry coulis with marscapone; Dessert: Orange filled crepe with marscapone

2010-11-14T20:37:00.000+11:00

My Best Friend's wedding

One of my oldest childhood friends got married last weekend. I had the privilege of being one of her bridesmaids and witness her special day. The day pretty much began at the ungodly hour of 5.15am. I woke up, the bride picked me up and drove us to her parent's place in Turramurra, just a few minutes away from the church- so we could get our hair and make-up done.

Steph's dress was beautiful and simple- detailed with a purple ribbon sash to match the bridesmaids dresses. Judith and I had picked our bridesmaids dresses with Steph many months before online.

Us with our hair and make-up all ready; and the Mak family together again.

Now I don't have any photos of the actual ceremony since I couldn't bring my camera in, but it was a beautiful (and very hot) ceremony. It was scorching hot and humid that day and I was soaking in my dress, even though I think the guys had it rougher in the heat. Anyway, we were off to the photoshoot in Lavender Bay and Surry Hills. The Saxon Cole team were awesome as usual!

After the photoshoot, it started getting a bit cloudier and cooler, as we headed to Mandalay House for the reception. Here the bridal party was able to relax a bit upstairs while the bride and groom was having the tea ceremony. Then we got to enjoy some delicious canapes before dinner.

Party time! Around 100 friends and family were at the reception, and the best part of the night was probably the speeches- which were full of sentiment and laughter, including a serenade to the groom from the groomsmen.

The whole day was long, but one of the best I've had in a long time. I'm so happy for Steph and Ernest, and it was such joy to be able to see my two close friends getting married.

And lastly, a obligatory photo with the happy couple, and also the husband.

2010-11-07T19:49:00.000+11:00

Steph's Kitchen tea & Hen's Night

2010-11-02T22:22:00.000+11:00

Miserable weather = grumpy Joyce

Sydney has been going through some terrible weather as of late. By terrible, I mean rainy, cloudy and windy. Spring isn't supposed to be like this!
I dislike this weather, especially the rain. Then it'll be sunny for a bit, then rain, rain, rain, that triggers my hayfever again. So I get these crazy sneezing fits. It makes me grumpy. And I dislike how I'm still wearing my winter jacket and scarf, toting a brolly to work almost everyday, especially when it's November.

Anyway, I hate the rain. And in the past, when I say this, there's always some moron telling me, "It's good for the environment, the country, blah, blah, blah". Well now that we're no longer in a drought, they can cut their tree-hugging, tofu-munching crap.

2010-10-25T21:55:00.000+11:00

Stylecraft Bowling Night

The other night, I went to a work function- sponsored by Stylecraft, a commercial furniture company. It was 'Bowling for Cancer' night, in a effort to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness month, and also for all the architecture & interior design firms invited to dress up while playing disco bowling.

The theme was 'Rock, Frock & Jock'- and Team LSA turned up dressed as a rocker bridal party. Mind you, there were prizes going out from the best dressed team to the highest scoring team, and we wanted to win something! I'd say we were the most outrageously dressed out of all the teams, since most turned up in matching sporting outfits. Unfortunately, Team LSA didn't win best dressed team as we had hoped, but my boss did win a prize as the Best Dressed Individual. She bought her veil for $20 at the Salvo's store, and the dress & bouquet were mine.

So I did my bit for Breast Cancer Awareness month! All in all, it was a fun night- made more so by some of the guys who braved the night cross- dressing.

2010-10-18T21:15:00.000+11:00

Gone Sailing

A few weeks ago I and some 3 of my other colleagues went sailing around the harbour courtesy of one of the associates who owns a boat.

Despite it being a bit cloudy and sprinkly, it was quite a cool experience as I've never been sailing on a boat. My associate is a bit of a marine buff who, to my surprise built his boat over 30 years ago and it looks as good as new. Needless to say, it was pretty impressive!

2010-10-11T20:42:00.000+11:00

My Parent's 30th wedding anniversary

We celebrated my parent's 30th wedding anniversary recently.

2 weeks ago Jonny and I had our 6 month anniversary. 59 more half anniversaries to 30 years!

2010-10-01T14:53:00.000+10:00

Lunch @ Mappen

One Sunday, Jonny had to preach twice at FOCUS Church; once in the morning for Mandarin service and again for IBF 4.30pm service. So naturally we had 4 to 5 hours to kill- so where better than in the city. I read about Mappen, a Japanese noodle place cafeteria style where you can select your own tempura to add on. Apart from ordering what you want, everything at this place is self-serve.

Before you enter, they have a banner of instructions on how to order. I thought this was pretty funny- from telling you to pick a drink from the fridge to put your tray back to the counter after finishing. Once you order what kind of noodles you want as a base, you can scoop up as much tempura batter and spring onions to your heart's content.

Then you move onto the tempura bar... from tempura vegetables, prawns, onions, sweet potato and pick out what you want, including packaged condiments like corn, seaweed, pickled bamboo, and tuna rice balls. Everything you pick out is then paid for at the cashier at the end.

I had the bukake udon which included a half raw egg, plus a prawn & sweet potato tempura. Jonny had the beef sukiyaki soba with vegetable tempura. You can even get self-serve miso soup and from a dispenser! I was quite taken with the decor- old japanese movie posters plastered over the wall- it looks like we were eating at a 'dai pai dong'.

2010-09-30T18:15:00.000+10:00

6 month anniversary

6 months sure goes by fast. We celebrated by dining at Sorenzo. I've been eyeing this place since the beginning of the year and this was a good excuse to go. We went for the cheapest 7-course kaiseki menu.

1. This course was a 'complimentary course' before the the first course. I think it was avocado mouse, japanese salad with some kind of tofu. Absolutely delish!
2. First course- assorted fresh sashimi

3. Choice of seared tuna tataki or 4. seared salmon tataki

5. Sweet and sour seafood soup 6. Prawn with wasabi aioli

7. Choice of Mero Miso Yaki or 8. Wagyu Steak

9. Assorted sushi & miso soup and finally, 10. Chef's selection of dessert, tiramisu with fruit

2010-09-29T17:52:00.001+10:00

Hunter Valley weekend away

Last weekend, some of the young adults of Penno Baps went on a weekend away to the Hunter Valley for some much needed R & R.

Some of us went wine & cheese tasting, some of us went bike-riding and some of us just chilled in the large B & B house we hired in Abertherny. We then met together for a nice picnic lunch at Audrey Wilkinson's winery.
After the BBQ that night, we had a brief panic when Jonny realised he lost his wedding ring somewhere around the house. After everyone looking all night, there was finally relief when it was found in the fridge the next morning when preparing for breakfast. *Phew*
Anyway, it was a lovely weekend, despite the fact I got sick which got me an extra day of rest =)

2010-09-25T12:28:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday at Pennant Hills Baptist Church Building

Last Sunday was the last service at our regular church building before we move our meetings to the SDA building down the street for building renovations.

This is a pretty big step for Penno, the building has been here for over 80 years, and talks of having a new building as been going for a couple of years to accomodate for the growing congregation. It's pretty exciting to know that in a year's time, our church will have a brand new building.

2010-09-20T22:23:00.000+10:00

Matt & Lin's wedding

A few Sundays ago, I had the privilege of witnessing Matt & Lin's wedding, from the ragging in the morning to their dinner reception. I met Lin last year at a mutual friend's birthday BBQ last year (which she happened to be the only other girl there), and Jonny has known her partner, Matt for several years.

On her wedding day, some of her girlfriends and family were their early to get ready for the ragging.

We met the Matt and his entourage down at the apartment courtyards, who were dressed as ninjas. Their tasks, in order to see the bride, were to:
- dress in maternity underwear that spelt out 'Matt loves Lin' and do a cheer
- dance to 'Aint no Mountain High Enough'
- eat Lin's favourite foods- fish eyes, smelly blue cheese, and oatmeal
- get their legs waxed
- and for Matt to shout out 10 reasons why he loves Lin in front of everyone

It was a beautiful wedding indeed. And the last wedding at the Pennant Hills Baptist church building before it gets knocked down for renovation in a month's time.

Congratulations, Matt & Lin!

2010-09-18T21:55:00.001+10:00

Jayesslee

Who is this Jayesslee everyone keeps talking about...
Meh!

2010-09-08T21:30:00.001+10:00

Yaaaaaaaaarm

During the past few weeks I've had the privilege of enjoying some good food, despite a tight budget this month.

1. Green tea and red bean cake made my one of the IBFers Jenn for the Christmas in August dialogue night.
2. One of my favourite desserts at the Au family dinners- the pink bums that have lotus paste inside.
3. Delicious and filling pork hock at T's Hen's night held at Cochin Restaurant
4. Lunchies with the husband at our favourite local Malaysian restaurant- Makan @ Alice's- roti with chicken curry.
5. Enjoying my first Hainan Chicken Rice at Makan since I had the real thing in Singapore almost 2 years ago.
6. Looks like vomit, but's actually a hearty seafood chowder I had a wedding last week.
7. Father's day dinner at Tatsuya- who have updated their menu. Grilled salmon sushi roll- 9 pieces $13.00. Bargain!
8. Tatsuya's signature jumbo roll. 3.5 inches in diameter.
9. A rich white chocolate and macadamia nut pannacotta at Blu Water Grill
10. Ricotta & Spinach pastry tart for dinner at Blu Water Grill

2010-09-06T21:12:00.000+10:00

Busy weekends

I can't remember a single Saturday in the last 2 months where I had absolutely nothing on. August & September are busy months!

1. Dinner with our FOCUS friends, the Wongs
2. Lin's bridal shower
3. A 'Christmas in August' themed Dialogue Night for one of the bible study groups at IBF, where Jonny gave a short talk.
4. Celebrating my Grandad's birthday
5. Having dinner with Steph
6. T's Hen's Night at Cochin

I can't wait to have a weekend where I can spend the WHOLE day with the husband.

2010-08-22T19:41:00.000+10:00

Lining up for ramen

I don't usually have ramen when I have Japanese food, but when I read about this place, I had to go and taste for myself. I read enough about Ryo's Noodles to expect queues outside the shop, and delicious authentic ramen.

I've eaten here twice now and both times I had to wait outside. Obviously the above picture was taken when there was no queue we left the shop at 9:30pm. The first time Jonny and I arrived for a late dinner at around 8.30pm, and waited outside the queue for 20 minutes, and luckily we were the last sitting before the kitchen closed at 9pm. The second time I was determined not to wait in the queue, so we arrived just before 6pm one Saturday, only to find that they actually open at 5pm for dinner and thus had to wait around 10 mins. It wasn't so bad after all as patrons from the 5pm sitting were leaving by then. While there were people queueing up to 10 metres from the door, one can't help but feel sorry for the sad and empty little Thai takeaway shop next door.

The service is quick, the ramen is hearty and well-portioned; good for those chilly winter nights. I recommend the soy sauce ramen with pork, not so much the miso ramen because it was so thick and salty. I read a lot of bragging about their pork rice balls, but they really aren't much to brag about. But one thing they do deliver is some damn fine ramen.

2010-08-15T19:15:00.000+10:00

Catching the train

The trip home from work usually takes around one and a half hours. The buses I catch don't sync with my trains. So usually by the time I arrive at the train station, the Macquarie Park train would've just arrived and I'm running like mad only to be stuck behind a slow fat lady going down the steps. Hence I have to wait for another 15-20 mins for the next train.

And occassionally when I'm sitting in a 2-seater on the train, some large man will usually sit next to me because I fill less than half the seat. They end up taking more than their half with their big arms and shoulders squeezing me agaisnt the window side. Everytime I just feel like saying, for goodness sakes, lose some weight and close your man thighs.

2010-08-08T23:32:00.000+10:00

More attempts at cooking Rosti

Jonny can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cooking. The past week he's been having a few attempts at cooking rosti in different ways.

In a stack with salmon and cream cheese with beets salad

Pizza style

And pac-man style

2010-07-24T14:32:00.005+10:00

My Birthday 2010

This year I kept it small and simple. I had dinner with my family a Blue Fin Japanese Restaurant.

Followed by another birthday dinner at Mizuya on Wednesday with some CABC friends.

2010-07-21T12:04:00.000+10:00

Lunch @ Maze Restaurant, Melbourne

Last Saturday, Jonny took me to Maze Restaurant at the Crown Metropol for an early birthday celebration. We actually tried booking on that Saturday for dinner more than a month ago but it was booked out! So that's how we ended up with having a seven-course Chef's menu lunch there. Opened and ownded by Gordon Ramsay, we were sure that the quality of the food and service would have to be top notch- and it definitely didn't disappoint! Food came out one after the after in good timing, actually a little bit too quickly since we were slowly enjoying the dishes, but nevertheless it was a lovely place to dine at.
The lovely decor as we walked in...

They even had special cutlery holders

Bread to start- with salt and garlic butter

Maze's signature dish- Marinated beetroot with goats curd, cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette, toasted pine nuts

Applewood smoked kingfish,fennel purée, pickled celery, globe artichoke, finger limes

Pork belly and steamed vegies with dashi soup

Coral trout, chicken skin, trompette royal, fennel, lemon thyme consommé

Rabbit and venison with marinated beetroot and radish

ice cream and honey parfait with berries and muesli

jaffa mousse with dried mandarin crisps

All in all, it was the most satisfying lunch I've had in a while. Definitely a place I'd like to go back to again if one opened up in Sydney!

2010-07-18T21:40:00.000+10:00

Our Melbourne Trip

In the last few weeks, work has been getting quite challenging and stressful, so I was glad to have taken a long weekend break and went to Melbourne with the husband. Some lovely highlights....

1. Walking around St Kilda on a freezing day
2. Jonny took me out for my early birthday lunch at Maze Restaurant
3. Watching Mary Poppings the musical at Her Majesty's Theatre
4. Spotting some nice artwork around the laneways
5. Saw the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI
6. Hanging around the Tim Burton paraphenalia at Federation Square
7. Having breakfast at one of the cosy cafes in the laneways
8. One of my favourite laneways in the city

2010-07-12T22:07:00.004+10:00

Random stuff of June & July

Stuff that's been going on since I last blogged...

1. Celebrating our 3 months at Waqu
2. Jonny and I made a creamy cheesecake for our parents who were coming over the next day
3. Us and the parentals visiting our apartment and enjoying our cheesecake
4. Brother-in-law/Landlord comes over for dinner and band hero
5. Making pizza and fondue at Pete & Jade's
6. My old bible study group from FOCUS come over to our place in Penno

2010-06-28T18:40:00.000+10:00

Tatsuya- the place to be

Jonny and I have been frequenting this place now and then for dinner. Firstly, we were quite doubtful of the name, since it resembles the renowned Tetsuya's, but Tatsuya's food is worth the quality and value.

We'd have our various local default eateries. Sakae in Eastwood used to be our default favourite for local Japanese for its price and quantity (also cos we had our first date there). Tatsuya offers different katsu dishes, sushi rolls, noodles and sashimi at great value. The seared sashimi plate is my current favourite.

In all its sear-y goodness. Sure the rice portions weren't great, but the sashimi portions were generous and delish!

2010-06-26T23:50:00.004+10:00

A Lazy Saturday

Today was one of those rare Saturdays with the hubby where we had nothing on during the day; we got to sleep in till 11am, cook a nice lunch and did a small bit of shopping.

It was sooo good. Usually there's either a church thing, a wedding, or we've had people over and vice versa. And the last few weeks I've spent the Saturdays doing my own thing or catching up with my friends, while the hubby did his own thing, which was either soccer, finishing off a sermon, essay or studying for his exam.

We had a german-style lunch- we cooked rosti! And some beef ravioli in tomato and vegie soup.

2010-06-22T00:15:00.001+10:00

Always stick to the list

I'm a true believer in that when it comes to giving presents for a wedding/engagement party/baby shower, and there's a registry or a gift request involved, that you should always follow it. I found this even more so after going through the whole wedding gift-unwrapping experience. Despite the fact we requested cash and set up a small registry at Myer, we still managed to receive some really odd wedding gifts-

- Some Christian plaques and wall hangings from Hong Kong. We received some funny looking 'God bless our home', 'Love is patient' wooden wall hangings and a cute crucifix with flowers and giraffes on it- very Precious Moments-esque. Obviously these were from HK, because I sincerely hope Koorong doesn't sell these! Anyway, Jonny didn't think much of the cutesy crucifix. And it doesn't go with the rest of our stuff.

- We thought this was funny- we received a cheque for $339. ??!??! It was just a very random amount.

- Some books, a paper towel dispenser that kept breaking, and numerous other unpractical stuff, as well as a flower pot from Sweden which we now use to put our keys.

I know I should be grateful that people gave us gifts in the first place. But how hard is it to follow a request? It's either get in early and choose a gift from the list or it's cash. And it shouldn't be that hard because it's not like people have to think about what to get. Also, it's so that we don't end up with 30 photo frames, and 2 toasters and 3 watches. Funnily enough, we ended up getting 3 pairs of watches, and we don't even wear watches! Otherwise maybe one day these gifts might magically be recycled...

So bottom line peoples- always stick to the list, or if ever in doubt- cash is still a crowd pleaser.

2010-06-16T00:23:00.000+10:00

Cooking Pho

Those who have tried making pho will know that it's no walk in the park. Tash and I have been talking about cooking pho for quite some time, and we managed to put it all into action last week. We got up early on Saturday morning to buy all the ingredients to start boiling the soup.

To make the soup- we boiled 2 big beef bones,coriander, star anise, cinnamon, sugar, salt, cloves, ginger and lots and lots of onions in a large stock pot over a period of 7-8 hours.

The soup after a few hours. Every now and then, we couldn't help but sneak a peek at the progress. While the soup was stewing away, Tash, Cler and I engaged in a Friends dvd marathon, followed by playing the Friends version of Scene it.

As we kept checking and taste-testing it from time to time, adding salt and sugar, and eventually taking away the cinnamon sticks. Around about the 8th hour, we started plating up as our guinea pigs arrived.

We plated up some flat noodles, raw beef, spring onion, brown onion, and coriander, with fresh chilli, bean sprouts and lemon on the side.

Pho-king brilliant!

We invited some friends from church to be our guinea pigs.

The verdict- not bad for a first attempt at pho. The soup base could've been saltier and we obviously needed to stew it for a few more days if we had a slow cooker. Otherwise, it was full of beef and onion-y goodness. The apartment smelt like pho and onion for days.

2010-06-14T23:44:00.000+10:00

Queen's Birthday

I'm glad I didn't wake up for the 4.30am Australia VS Germany soccer game. I didn't need to wake up at that hour to see all that embarrassment.

I love that I got to sleep in! I stayed in bed till about noon. It was awesome!

Jonny went to watch the soccer game replay while I went shopping. I needed some good makeup so badly.

Bummed around a bit at home and had a late lunch- some left over pho we made 2 days ago and pizza.

Booked our holiday to Melbourne and Mary Poppings tickets- yay!

Went out for Kitty's birthday dinner at Chilli Jam; great to see some old friends again.

Got home, exercised, showered and went to bed.

2010-06-11T23:27:00.001+10:00

Lunch with CGHS Friends

One Saturday, I caught up with my high school friends which I hadn't seen since my wedding. Sally suggested this place in Surry Hills called Winery by Gazebo. It was a nice, kitschy lunch place to hang with friends over some pub grub, and they decor was quite interesting- flamingo statues, giant chess pieces and cute furniture to sit on.
Even though I ordered a lamb burger, I really had my eye on the delicious chicken and leek pie, which everyone else seemed to be having!

Later that week, I had a craving for chicken and leek pie, so Jonny made one Friday night. He had to rush to speak at Switch and didn't get to try the pie, so I was left with it all to myself. Well, I didn't have all of it! It was sooooo yum- full of chicken and leeky goodness. The pie was so steaming hot it fogged up my camera lens.

2010-06-03T23:39:00.004+10:00

CATS

I watched CATS on TV with the full London cast a decade ago and I loved it. And last week I got to watch it onstage. Something about humans dressing up as cats dancing and singing..

2010-05-23T23:19:00.000+10:00

Dinner @ the Lam's

In the past weeks, we've been busy practising hospitality and our cooking skills by having some friends over at our place for dinner. Entertaining and cooking for people is fun, but can be quite tiring. One night we had some of the CABC guys and their partners over for dinner, had a sundried tomato and garlic sauce pasta bake with spinach, apple and fennel salad. Another night, I whipped up some risotto and chicken for Kitty and Mags when they came over before we went out for K.

My upcoming missions- making pho with Tash, having some FOCUS students over and inviting our landlord over for dinner.

2010-05-17T15:34:00.000+10:00

The weekends

The Finders Keepers Markets were on once again a few weekends ago. The husband had to spend the saturday working on his essay and talk, so this was the only saturday I had with no plans and all to myself. It was great! Drove to Newtown for the markets, then to the city and went to Sushi Rio for lunch. Then came back to have dinner at home and a quiet night in with the husband.

Last weekend was Penno Retreat, which was only 20 minutes away at Galston Gorge. The talk theme was about church and what it is good for, and most of the time was just spending time with everyone else. On Saturday night we had a campfire and sang songs all night.

This weekend- a wedding, MA training day and dinner & K with friends!

2010-05-10T15:27:00.000+10:00

Ninja Bear

Jonny in his ninja gear. I bought him the Tshirt from Busted tees and the ninja tie from Zazzle for his birthday.

2010-05-09T12:43:00.000+10:00

Mother's Day & Jonny's birthday

On Sunday, my family celebrated Mother's Day & Jonny's birthday by having dinner at Blu Water Grill. Good food, good service, plus there's a waiter who breaks out into opera-style singing. Tonight he sang Andrea Bocelli's 'The Prayer'.

After dinner, we went back to my place for dessert- blueberry cheesecake from Hello Happy. Dan had prepared a mother's day gift- a video of himself lip-syncing to some Jay Chou momma song.

Continuing a belated Lam's Mother's Day dinner on thursday.

2010-05-05T21:29:00.000+10:00

What's been up in the last month

So I don't blog that much lately. Since we came back from our honeymoon, Jonny's back at college, and I'm looking for a new job once again. In between that, we've been setting up house, getting our personal, banking, and medicare details updated. I'm currently being a lady-of-leisure-slash-looking-for-a-job and full-time housewife-ing. Homegroups have continued again at our place since we got back and it's been good to open our house for people to come over. We've also caught up with some friends from FOCUS and CABC, and tried our hand at cooking for them. Lately, a lot of our friends have gotten engaged, including one of my close friends who's getting married in November, and we've already picked out our dresses. And the past few weekends have been filled with birthdays, baby showers and weddings.

FYI I've taken away the comments link. Haloscan came up with an ugly comments box under each post a few months ago, so I've decided to do away with comments altogether.

2010-04-22T16:55:00.011+10:00

Jonny & Joyce's Wedding Part 3 | Reception

On the way to reception at Rhodes Phoenix Restaurant, I realised that I left my dress changes at home and had to call my parents to check they had left home yet. Unfortunately they almost at the restaurant, and I didn't have my house keys so I couldn't stop by the house, and we were running late for the tea ceremony. After several phonecalls back and forth, Dan saves the day by going all the way to my parents place to fetch the dresses. He was also meant to MC the wedding and be a part of the tea ceremony; and what a miracle- he arrives with the dresses just in time for his part in the tea ceremony.

We had only hired Saxon Cole to shoot all the way to the end of the bridal shoot, and we decided to get some friends to photograph the reception for us to save money. Professional photography can be so expensive! And since every second person I know has an SLR camera, it's a great way to cut costs. Our friends Ivan, Phil & Alan filled in for the night snapping away.

Even though we were having a Chinese banquet reception, I was specifically anal about having everything western-looking (ie. no red and gold). I hired decorators to supply chair covers with sashes, stage backdrop with fairy lights and made my own table number holders. The decorators are 2 sisters who run a company called Enchanting Moments. They took care of everything from set-up to pack-up, and the whole place just looked very impressive.

For bombonierres, we didn't have any. Again, to cut costs, we decided to have a candy bar and bags set up, so people who wanted candy can scoop some into the bags and take it away as their gift. Since being together, Jonny and I have attended approximately 10 weddings, and even though the wedding bombonierres look nice, sometimes people just forget to take them home, and they are quite expensive (especially if we were going to have around 390). The glass urns were from Target, and we bought the candy in bulk from an online lolly shop called Goody Goody Gumdrops.

For our guestbook, we had 4 canvasses where guests could leave a thumbprint on a hand-drawn tree branch and sign their name. This was for the intention of having them on our wall or put them somewhere in our new place. 3 weeks prior to the wedding, I personally hand-drew all the trees. I bought the canvasses from Hot Dollar and the inkpads from Spotlight.

My brother and sister-in-law were the MC's for the night. Before the speeches, one of the groomsmen, Anthony prepared a photo slideshow of us. It was a lovely slideshow of us from when were babies till now- and to the Glee version of 'Don't Stop Believing' and 'Stolen' by Dashboard Confessional. All the speeches from my parent's, Jonny's parents, bridesmaids and best-man were heart-felt and funny. I spent the whole night laughing so hard. Jonny's a pretty squeaky clean guy, whereas I got paid out much more.

My brother also gave his infamous 'Brother of the Bride' speech, which he wrote in the form of a poem. This us had me in stitches!

We started our table rounds and photos quite early on, and went around to 3-6 tables every food break we got. I was so glad to get out of my wedding dress and into my silver dress. By then, my lower back was aching from standing most of the day. I ate up to the lobster dish, then pretty much resorted to liquids for the rest of the night. Too much happening to sit down and eat!

At about 10PM, we cut the wedding cake. We got our wedding cake from Tiers of Joy; it was a simple 2-tiered fondant chocolate cake with rose and butterfly frosting. We forgot to drink those coloured drink glasses! Shortly afterwards, all the single ladies got up for the throwing of the bouquet. Funny how in western weddings, caucasians are more keen to catch it, whereas asians are desperately trying to avoid it! My friend Vicky ended up 'catching' the bouquet, and my 'catching', I mean the bouquet fell on the ground and she was the closest to it.

And of course, it was time to dance! Jonny and I danced to 'Moon River' sung by Andy Williams. We learnt how to waltz by watching dancing lessons on Youtube. We decided not to do a 'performance' dance and thought it was better to dance a sloooooow one, so no one would know how bad we were! After the song, the bridal party, our parents and other guests came up to dance.

And of course the night wouldn't be complete without some breakdancing by the CABC guys!
By 10.30PM Jonny and I pretty much finished all our table rounds and photos. I can't believe we actually got through around to take photos with 33 tables! I got changed again into my 'going-away' dress, a short red dress by Nicola Finetti. We planned to leave early rather than staying all the way to the end till the last guest left, cos that will probably be around midnight! After saying some goodbyes, the guest formed a long tunnel from the stage all the way to the restaurant entrance, and out we went!

Goodnight to a long, exhausting day. Hello, married life!

2010-04-19T16:10:00.002+10:00

Jonny & Joyce's Wedding Part 2 | Bridal Shoot

So off to The Rocks for the bridal shoot! I love the vintage and charming look of this place. There were markets going on at the same time, so naturally there were a lot of people around the Lowenbrau area. Weird how random strangers come up to take photos of you!

We went to several locations around The Rocks. Who knew that a little alleyway or an ordinary wall or doorway could be a nice setting for photos! A little tip- bring flip flops. I was walking all afternoon in my flip flops- they're just so comfortable after a whole morning in heels. I also brought along a ivory lace parasol for the shoot, which I bought from Chinatown. Here are some of my favourite photos from The Rocks-

The guys going for some kinda mob/gangsta look, while the girls are having a laugh and posing for our own photos.

The about 3-ish, we all headed to Hornsby for our second location. This place is very special to Jonny and I, we shared a few picnics here and even our first kiss. This garden is nicely tucked away from the rest of the world.

The photographers got the bridal party to pose and stand in funny ways and experiment with different looks.

There were also some funny shots of the bridal party mucking about that SC captured.

And finally one last shot before heading off to the reception.

2010-04-14T17:12:00.018+10:00

Jonny & Joyce's Wedding Part 1 | Ceremony

The Day started off at the ungodly hour of 5AM. I woke up from the phonecall of my hairdresser, saying she's outside. Luckily my bridesmaids were all ready up, and ready to go, so they got ready first. So my hairdresser and make up artist began their work at 5.15, and one by one we started getting our make up done and putting our hair in curlers.

My hairdresser and make-up artist were awesome. They did the job well, they were on time, and I reckon we looked great! During my trial 2 months prior, we experimented with different looks till I was happy. My hairdresser was Doreen, from The Art of Hair and my Make Up Artist was Sheree from Glowing Acclaim Make Up Artistry. I didn't even need to fix up my hair or touch up my make up during the reception.

The official photographers, Will and Andrew of Saxon Cole Photography came by at 8:15AM. I booked these guys 2 weeks after I got engaged just to make sure they were available on our day. I've actually been following their work for a few years. I was after wedding photographers were were fun, easy going and can take good photos, and I knew I wanted them to photograph our wedding. I just love how their photographs look natural, soft and delicate, and most important of all, very little editting! The SC guys were awesome- they were easy-going, they told us how to pose, they cracked jokes, they just made the whole day fun for us. We hired them from the morning all the way up until the bridal shoot. All the photos here are from Saxon Cole.

My wedding bouquets came at 8.30AM, fresh and arranged by Kerrianne, who went to the flower markets at the crack of dawn to search for light pink and creme roses with dusty miller leaves and berries. She's a lovely woman who was recommended by my highschool friend, and she is actually a dressmaker by trade. She altered my wedding dress and she's *very* affordable.

My wedding dress was from Bridal Secrets in Parramatta. Finding the dress was an easy task, since I bought it on the first day of looking in April last year, although I did spend hours browsing online. The dress is a Maggie Sottero ivory lace and beaded A-line gown with a cathedral train and a scalloped lace hem. It took quite a while to look for the right lace gown; all I kept thinking was 'no satin! It looks bad in flash photos!'.

I bought a wedding hairpiece by Twigs & Honey from Etsy. Funny story- 2 months before the wedding I was fiddling around with it and trying to fix it into my hair in the bathroom, when it fell off and into the toilet bowl. In a panic, I immediately fished it out of the toilet, and still wet, and left it outside to dry. When it was dry, it became a bit yellow-y. I thought I wasn't going to be able to wear it because it looked a bit yellow-y, and started searching for other alternatives. Over time I just decided to wear it because heck- I bought this for my wedding; it's still pretty; and no one knows I dropped it in the toilet anyhow!

The bridesmaids dresses were from Kookai, which I bought in May last year. It was quite a quick purchase; I saw the dress on a mannequin one day, got the store to hold 3 of them; emailed my bridesmaids to go to the store to try them on. The dress is called the 'Million-Ways Dress', because you can tie them in different ways. I was looking for a watermelon/salmon pink, but this pink grew on me over time- especially now looking back at the day, I reckon that it packs a nice colour punch in all my wedding photos. Props to Mags for wearing such a ridiculous shade of pink.

The bridesmaids wore fake peachy-coloured carnations from Silk Flora in their hair and drop pearl earrings from Diva. I also wore drop pearl earrings that I bought from a random jewellery cart in Castle Towers (only $15!), and a drop pearl necklace which was a gift from my mum.

So I take some shots with my mum and dad, and we're all ready to go to St Stephens Anglican Church in Willoughby. Drivers for the day- Linda & Ed come to pick us up and we get to the church exactly at 10.30AM, and with a bit of time to take photos and calm myself down before the processional.

Meanwhile Jonny and his groomsmen had arrived 45 minutes early at the church to meet and greet the guests. The guy's suits were dark grey with pinstripes and ivory vest and tie, which were hired from Spurling in Parramatta. Like the buttonierres? I made them!

All ready to go in, one of the ushers says something about 'The Phoenix has arrived' on the walkie talkie to the head usher inside, who signals to John, our celebrant to start. I chose 2 songs for the processional which were from Love Actually, composed by Craig Armstrong. The bridesmaids walk to the song 'PM's Love theme'; and I walked to 'Glasgow Love Theme'. I got a bit teary walking down the aisle as I was looking at Jonny.

Jonny and I wanted the theme of our wedding ceremony to reflect the heavenly wedding that is to come. This theme was reflected in the songs that we chose- "Hallelujah to the King of Kings", "We Belong to The Day" and the item "I Can Only Imagine", performed by the band from Pennant Hills Baptist and vocalists from FOCUS. The message that Rev. Joshua Ng preached was from Revelation 19:6-9 which was about the elaborate heavenly wedding banquet. After the message, Jonny and I exchanged vows and became husband and wife.

Oh, and then we shared a helluva kiss =)

Afterwards, the bridal party and the parents go up the stage to sign the registry. After I signed it, I was kind of admiring everyone, then I saw Euge, one of the groomsmen who had a black eye. I leant over to Jonny and said, "Why does Euge have a black eye?!"; to which Jonny replied, "He was in a fighting competition last night and he won." I was not impressed!

After the 5-minute long free-range photo-taking by the paparazzi, Pastor John gave the benediction and we proceeded to head down the church to the recessional song, "What a Wonderful World," by Joey Ramone. Most awesome song to make an exit! Straight after we headed outside the church, I made a bee-line straight to Euge and scolded him on his black eye.

Jonny and I took some time taking photos with our guests outside the church. It was great to see our whole 3 main church communities there, especially the FOCUS guys which I haven't seen since I finished MTS. Oh, it was just lovely to see everyone.

Afterwards, we proceeded to the morning tea hall for some refreshments and mingled with the guests. Props to the many aunties to volunteered to help us out in making hundreds on spring rolls, curry puffs, sandwhiches, etc. Some of them even got to the church as early as 7AM to start cooking. Also props to the decorations team for getting there early to set up! The pink lanterns were from the Martha Stewart Weddings range (available at Spotlight), and the yellow ones I picked up at a homeware shop in Berri.

Then off to The Rocks for our Bridal Shoot!

2010-04-09T13:05:00.000+10:00

Hamilton Island

Highlights of our honeymoon-

1. Complimentary buffet breakfast every day. They got eggs cooked any way you like, mushrooms, sausages, fish, spaghetti, hashbrowns, croissants, danishes, muffins, cold meats and cheese.
2. Complimentary shuttle buses that ferry us all over the island. We stayed on a shuttle bus for an hour just to 'sightsee the whole island'.
3. We took a cruise to Whitehaven Beach- one of the whitest beaches in the world.
4. Gorgeous sunsets all around
5. Complimentarty use of their water sport equipment. We learnt how to sail a catamaran.
6. Good food- we went to Bommmie's Restaurant at the Yacht Club twice. Modern Australian food at its best.
7. Waking up to a gorgeous view everyday. Our room had a king-size bed facing the window which overlooked the beach.
8. And of course, spending good quality time with my husband.

2010-03-28T10:59:00.000+11:00

The day after

2010-03-27T14:40:00.000+11:00

Twenty Seventh of March Two Thousand and Ten

Today I married my sweetheart Jonny.
Most awesome day ever.

2010-03-26T12:47:00.000+11:00

The Night before the Big Day

Showered, hair-washed, makeup-less and in my PJ's. Here marks my last night as a single woman.

It was pretty much just like any other night in. Had a ordinary home-cooked meal with my parents, then 2 of my bridesmaids came over. Had a dress rehearsal and got everything out and ready for the morning, and had some celebratory glutinous rice balls.
My bridesmaids insisted on making the night 'special'. So we just talked, and prayed. That was pretty cool.
I've always imagined the night before my wedding to be somewhat different- stressed, frantic and running around doing last minute things and getting no sleep. But actually, everything was all done, and I had no trouble falling asleep at all.

2010-03-25T12:13:00.000+11:00

Canadian Lams in Oz

My Canadians relos came to Sydney a week before my wedding. Fortunately, most of my wedding stuff was already coming into place, so I was able to spend a good amount of time with them.

Having dinner with my relos at HoHo Chinese Restaurant on their first night in Sydney. My favourite dish there is the crab with fun-see dish.

On Wednesday, we took them to Watsons Bay, and a fancy lunch at Doyle's Seafood Restaurant. After lunch we took a walk around the Gap Bluff.

We stopped by to visit UNSW. My Uncle studied there a good 30 years ago, and he wanted to visit the uni, especially at New College where he stayed. There was a lovely New Collegian who showed them around and gave a tour. We even spotted the young version of my uncle in the wall of black and white alumni photos. Afterwards, we went to Coogee which was just 10 minutes away to soak up some Sydney sun for a bit before our early dinner reservation at Rise Restaurant.

2 more days to go!

2010-03-23T00:45:00.000+11:00

One week out and feelin' good!

Fortunately on I'm work hiatus a week and a bit before the wedding. I managed to squeeze in some good catch up time with some friends, family and even a old family friend from HK who dropped by in Sydney for a week.

1. Hanging out with Simmie and CJ
2. Dinner with Jonny, my brother and sister-in-law at The Slip Inn
3. Celebrating our 2-year anniversary 36 levels above
4. Dinner with my Canadian relo's
5. Lunch with Caleb who dropped into Sydney for a week
6. Jonny and I busy writing out thank-you cards

Jonny and I have done most of the wedding stuff now. Wednesday is gonna being hanging with my Canadian relos, then doing some last minute bits and pieces, plus wedding rehearsal on Thursday, then relax on Friday!

2010-03-20T01:00:00.000+11:00

2 years on

Jonny and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the weekend. He took me out for a lovely 4 course dinner at Altitude Restaurant. Fortunately he was able to book a window seat (these take weeks to secure) a few days before because there was a cancellation. And it was WOW. Well done Jonny. So I'm just gonna shamelessly brag about the view with some photos.

I'm done not yet- the food was exquisite once again. These Altitude guys know how to impress.

We witnessed a couple by the table next to us getting engaged as we ate. I dunno if I now have a sixth sense for these things, but I smelt a proposal as soon as a waiter hand-delivered a large wrapped-up gift box to the girl, as her boyfriend watched. The girl opened the wrapping on the box to find another box inside the box, and there were different messages each time she opened the boxes. Finally she got down to the small box, which was obviously the ring box, which she opened to find a small scroll with a message on it. Then the guy goes down on one knee as proposes, and she accepts. We thought even though the whole thing was so safe and cliche, it was kind of sweet.

Anyway, enough about the other couple. It was one of the most perfect nights we've had lately admist the busyness of my job, him trying to get his college essays done before the wedding. We're definitely looking forward to the weekend.

2010-03-14T14:30:00.000+11:00

My Kitchen Tea & Hen's Night

My lovely bridesmaids organised an 'Alice in Wonderland tea party' themed Kitchen tea for me last weekend. It was awesome!
It was held in my backyard, and my goodness, I have not been in my backyard for years. They told me to be out of the house by 10am and come back at 3pm. And when I returned home at 3, they completely transformed my backyard into something out of Alice in Wonderland. Even the guests were all dressed up in costume.

At night, some of my close girlfriends and I had dinner at Wagaya, a Japanese restaurant where you order everything by a touch-screen menu. Good choice! I've always wanted to eat here, but I could never be bothered to make it happen. Many dishes and mocktails later, we walked around Darling Harbour then to Azuma's for coffee and dessert.

The whole day was perfect and exactly how I wanted to celebrate my last days of singleness. Less than 2 weeks to go!

2010-03-11T22:57:00.002+11:00

Almost 2 Weeks to go

So I haven't blogged in a while.

The past few weeks can be summed up by the following: wedding stuff- Dozens of emails, dress fittings, runsheets, table seating arrangements, drawing trees on canvasses, liasing with reception & ceremony managers and pleasing the parentals, and planning daytrips for overseas guests. Doing all this while watching re-runs of Friends and The Office.

Besides that, college has started up again for Jonny, as well as his new position as student minister. We've been attending PHBC for well over a month now, and we lead a tuesday homegroup at our now apartment-to-be.

Still been able to catch up with some friends, in the slow process of packing up my room, and trying all this weird products on my face.

That's pretty much all I've been up to in a nutshell.

2010-02-23T23:51:00.003+11:00

Wedding Dreams

Since I got engaged, I've had a few dreams about my own wedding. It was always about forgetting to bring something, wear something or have something organised before the actual day. Actually kinda nightmare-ish!

Dream #1- On the wedding day, everything was all set up and ready to go, guests were mingling in the refreshment hall for some reason, then ushered to go and sit in the church. Just as I'm about to enter, I realise I forget to bring the cd music I wanted to walk down the aisle to. And me being me, I insist on not walking down the aisle, and driving back home to get it. Can't remember if I made it back or not.

Dream #2- A few hours before the wedding, I realised I forgot to organise hair and makeup for my bridesmaids. Either that, or the hair and makeup person never arrived, leaving me in a panic. Forgot how that ended. Funny that I had this dream while I was busy looking for the right hair and makeup person.

Dream #3- The latest wedding dream that took place a few days ago; I'm in the lobby of a sandstone church, getting ready to walk down the aisle. I'm already anxious that my bridesmaids aren't walking on cue with the music, then just when I'm about to enter through the door with my dad, I suddenly notice that my dress isn't quite right. Turns out I forgot to put on my hoop, and my hairpiece. Not only that, apparently the church venue looked different to what I originally booked. As a walk down the aisle- which wasn't even an aisle, to get to the stage, I had to walk around the back of the hall then to the front with the bridal party following behind. I finally reach the stage, then somehow Jonny and I end up in the side room. Then I find out that he changed the church venue last minute (?), and I get mad at him for changing the original church venue for a cheap-ass one at the last minute. I forgot how that one ended but I wake up with a bit of sweat.

2010-02-20T20:23:00.000+11:00

Dinner @ Sake

The other day, I took the fiance for a nice fancy V-day/anniversary Japanese dinner at The Rocks. I read the Sake restaurant at a good review for its contemporary take on Japanese food. Attentive service, and impressive flavours but a little pricey.

Kingfish sashimi with jalapeno & coriander

Tuna tataki with garlic chips, daikon sprouts & ponzu

Nixon sushi maki- grilled eel, cream cheese, cucumber & tempura crunch with avocado

Spider Maki roll- fried soft-shell crab, cucumber & mayo with spicy tobiko, chives & ponzu

Miso butterfish

Deconstructed russian cream- buttermilk panna cotta, raspberry jelly & raspberry coconut salad

2010-02-15T00:10:00.000+11:00

Wedding Boutonnières

Because of my cheapness, I've decided to resort to making wedding boutonnière. When I realised the real flower ones cost $5-$10 each, I thought, forget this, I'm making my own ones!

So I went to Spotlight to buy some fake flowers, leaves, stamens,feathers and cut some pearls off the existing decorative plant from home. Put it all together, wrap it up with floral tape and ribbon, and voila!

I'm not really sure what the point of boutonnières, but I figured that if the groom & groomsmen were gonna wear something on their lapels, they might as well be interesting. But probably not as far as these ones...

2010-02-04T20:59:00.001+11:00

Crunch time

50 Days till the big day! And still much to do- mostly details now.

Get people to RSVP
Get a hair trial
Finalise ceremony program & reception runsheet
Finalse wedding helpers
Get my evening dress altered
Buy materials to make boutoneirres
Buy materials for decorations and guestbook
Pick vows
Pick flowers
Buys lots and lots of candy
Get wedding programs printed
Sort out transport
Find places to take my overseas guests

2010-01-26T21:05:00.006+11:00

Nikki & Roger's wedding

Nikki & Roger's wedding last Saturday was full of love and laughter. The ceremony was followed by a lovely lunch reception at Le Montage in Lilyfield. Seems like one of the things that Nikki & I have in common is that we met our significant others through mission. Congratulations to you both and have an awesome honeymoon!

2010-01-19T21:08:00.000+11:00

Dinner @ Fix St James

Jonny discovered this really cool place for dinner for our anniversary. The menu at Fix St James was interesting and unique, but it was the 'Fix me up' menu choice that got us all curious. Basically, at the price of $49 per person, the chef gets to pick all 6 of your dishes. And you had no idea what he's going to make- which was the fun of it! So we left it up to the chef to 6 courses (2 antipasti, 2 entrees, 1 main and 1 dessert.

1. Antipasti #1: Fennel, Meridith Blue Cheese & Grape Salad

2. Antipasti #2: Cheese stuffed zucchini flowers

3. Entree #1: Roast tomato, fennel, mozarella cheese salad with basil on the side

4. Entree #2: Country Terrine with onion jam

5. Main: Whole snapper with radish and fennel salad with tartare sauce

6. Dessert: Watermelon and Campari granita with mascapone cheese

This is a place for the adventurous foodies! Best to come with the Entertainment Card. Their menu changes daily, so this is definitely a place I'd like to go again!

2010-01-17T20:34:00.002+11:00

Maitland Alive 2010

I came back from a long hot week of Maitland Alive mission last week. This year, there are also a small contingent of people branching out into Singleton, forming Singleton Alive, (which will be the direction the mission is heading in the years to come). Meanwhile, the majority of the team were in Maitland, holding a week's worth of programs to teach kids about Jesus through skits, games, craft and songs.

We used about 50 sparklers just to get this shot!

Some highlights- Memory Verse Man Nate makes an appearance in KHAOS; Someone brought 'Bop-it' along during free-time which got us all addicted; the team mucking around after dinner; "Climbing Sunshine Mountain" during lunch

The theme of the week was Exodus, and on the last day of the program, we all got dressed up accordingly!

On Friday, the guys threw the girls a lovely chilvarous surprise- they cooked and served us dinner in the rotunda complete with slideshow in the background and live jazz tunes. They even dressed up in white shirts and black pants complete with nice manners! If only there were like this all the time!

Will I go back next year? Of course la...

2010-01-06T21:42:00.002+11:00

Beautiful Berry

During the Kiama holiday, we drove down to Berry for the day to check out the town. I was really impressed with the place. The hub of Berri consists of one main street full of cafe's, homeware and craft shops full of little trinkets. And I managed to snag some homeware bargains myself! Tis definitely a place I'd like to come by again.

2010-01-06T20:55:00.003+11:00

Carnival Town

There was a carnival town set up while I was in Kiama. I love the atmosphere and colour of carnivals. I love carnival fairy floss and hotdogs. Even though I didn't go on any of the rides, I think I had more fun just walking around and taking photos.

Photo above was taken by Kitty.

2010-01-05T20:25:00.000+11:00

Kiama Holiday

The new year started out with a holiday in Kiama. One last chance to holiday with the girls as single woman. I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful sights in the south coast. The following photos were from Bombo Headlands & the Kiama coastline.

More pics to follow!

2009-12-26T18:55:00.001+11:00

Au Family Christmas

I had a wonderful Christmas this year. I'm back home and closer to my family and fiance, and on holidays, enjoying good home-cooked food for Christmas. This time last year, I spent Christmas Day with family in the hustle and bustle in Hong Kong- and dinner at a foodcourt in a Kowloon shopping mall. Not my ideal way to spend Christmas!

What I love about Christmas is the food. Grilled prawns. Salmon Sashimi. Mango salad. Turkey. Vietnamese Spring rolls. And desserts galore.

This year, the extended family decided to do Kris Kringle. Jonny and I got a cooler bag and towel, which was a relief, cos I'll be damned if I get another tin of egg rolls!

And finally, Jonny and I received a lovely surprise package in the mail. Saxon Cole, the guys who will be shooting our wedding sent us a box of Lindt Cookies n' Creme chocolates for Christmas. How nice of them!

2009-12-23T17:44:00.003+11:00

Iggy & Liqing's wedding

It seems like the only times I ever go to Brisbane is for friend's weddings. I went to Brisbane for Iggy & Liqing's wedding #2 last weekend. The week before that, they had their official wedding in Singapore (She's Singaporean and he's from Brisbane).

I knew Liqing from FOCUS, and we were coleaders of a bible study group last year. The day I started attending FOCUS, was the day she had just started dating Iggy. Their relationship had started with 50% matchmaking and 50% facebooking a few months before it became official. Qing would fly back and forth to Brisbane to see Iggy and vice versa for the past 2 years. Now they're glad they no longer have to do long distance!

Congratulations, Iggy & Qing!

2009-12-21T11:03:00.000+11:00

The Prodigal Daughter Returns

After two years of doing MTS and living in Kingsford, I have now officially moved back home! My whole room of stuff is in the living room. Now to undertake the mammoth task of unpacking.

I came back with 5 large suitcases of clothes, not to mention I had already thrown out 5 garbage bags of clothes to the donation bin prior to the move. It's gonna take a couple of days to get all this mess sorted!

2009-12-20T10:45:00.000+11:00

My Etsy Item finally arrived!

Yay! My flower hairpiece from Etsy has arrived!
For months I've been browsing on Etsy for the perfect wedding hairpiece. I was quite taken with Myra Callan's beautiful pieces from Twigs & Honey. I'm usually not a big fan of buying things online, but I'm just glad this made its way safely all the way from Oregon.

2009-12-09T23:31:00.002+11:00

Productivity makes me happy

I really like being productive. In fact, I would say that a good day is one where it's a productive one. This week so far, I've managed to email friends I haven't seen in a while, write thank you emails to all my MTS supporters, paid the bills, and even had time to catch up with some close friends over the phone. Did all this while having Scrubs, The Office and 30 Rock in the background.

Next up- wedding planning.

2009-12-06T22:43:00.000+11:00

Dress codes on mission

I've always wondered about dress code on summer missions. Every year before mission, there'll be separate guy and girl time, and the girls talk over how we can be be more helpful in serving the brothers during mission. So naturally, dress code will come up. So the normal dress code on mission that gets emphasised every year is- no spaghetti straps, no bra-straps showing, no shorts or skirts way past the knees, don't wear anything out in public that resembles a nightie- because apparently a hint of these things can be arousing to guys.

Now I know there are various reasons for these dress codes- not to be stumbling to those of the opposite sex, to be appropriate and respectable-looking when we are interacting with children and parents. But why do we go out of our way to enforce this especially on mission and not in our day-to-day lives? I see christian girls wear inappropriate clothing on a semi-regular basis. Are guys more easily aroused on mission? (They should also learn to control themselves too. The I'm-a-guy-and-I-got-weaknesses excuse is just soft). Why should the rest of the girls be uncomfortable in the sweltering heat because guys can't control their thoughts? It just seems odd that dress code is made more aware of during mission time.
Perhaps we should be more mindful or what we wear during non-mission time too.

2009-12-01T21:02:00.002+11:00

To Cheong Sam or not to Cheong Sam...

* Warning - dress talk ahead *

Last month I was deliberating whether or not to wear a cheong sam for my wedding. Right from the beginning, I was pretty set on not wearing one for various reasons. Firstly, red is not my colour, I didn't want to look too 'oriental', and thirdly I didn't think that style of dress would suit me. And all the ones I've seen online are yukkkkkk!

The possibility of getting a decent cheong sam would be in Hong Kong. And obviously, I wasn't that desperate to fly all the way to HK to get one. And if I did, that would mean I had to give the HK dressmakers very accurate measurements. Then I'd have to arrange for a HK relative to ship back to Sydney, and it may turn out that I may not like the look of the dress after all.

Simultaneously, I was also tossing up whether to buy an evening dress that I saw online at Nordstrom in the US. It was a plain yet elegant champagne chiffon ruched gown with beaded pearl cap sleeves. I was up around 1.30am one morning, to find that that dress I saw at Nordstorm became unavailable (it was a very popular!). Anyway, they had this function on the website where you could chat to the sales staff online- kinda like msn. So I logged on and I was actually engaging in conversation to a sales staff in the US about the dress! I thought that was an amazing online-shopping experience. That didn't get me the dress though- it was still unavailable. So hence, I decided if I couldn't get that dress, then I don't want a cheong sam either.

So alternatively, I was on the hunt for an evening dress. The question is- how many? After a few months of occasionally browsing through shops and online, I realised there are no nice and affordable dresses out there- well not in the shopping malls at least.

I've been to weddings where the bride had like 5 dress changes, and I've been to weddings where the bride simply wore her wedding dress for the whole day. I was still deciding how many until I picked up my ready-to-wear wedding dress a few weeks ago which had been at the dressmakers for 3 months. When I tried it on, it was perfect!! Why would I wanna spend more $$ on 5 additional dresses when this was perfect already? Well I at least like to have another dress to dance in.

So I was still on the hunt up until last week when I was browsing with my mum. The first dress I tried on at the first shop we went to, that was it. Evening dress - check!

2009-11-29T22:46:00.001+11:00

My Last Lunch at FOCUS

I managed to take some photos of what's left of IBF on my last Sunday at FOCUS Church.

And where better to say goodbyes than at Hungry JACKS...

2009-11-28T20:45:00.000+11:00

November happenings...

1. Andy and James doing a skit for my farewell at MTS Conference
2. Most of the new staff team for 2010 at MTS Conference
3. The current MTS staff team of 2009
4. Jonny and I celebrating another anniversary at Elio's
5. BBQ with the other Singaporean leaders at Ivan's place in Newtown
6. Presenting Josh with a thankyou present at the last IBF leader's meeting
7. Having dinner at Jack's and his housemates where they cooked a delicious mango salad, tempura and ocean trout
8. Having a WICKED night out with the family

2009-11-17T16:58:00.000+11:00

Cookie Monsters BBQ

The uni year has pretty much come to an end for all the IBF students. Given that most students will start going back to their home countries from here on out, Jonny and I organised a BBQ dinner for a last gathering with BS group last weekend. We were finally able to get them all to come to the other side of Sydney, to good o'l Penno, where we feasted on a smorgasbord of meat- and even added bulgogi to the mix.

Towards the end, we exchanged cards and gifts. Our group made us a farewell cards each. They made a big cookie monster card for Jonny and for me, a cookie jar full of messages and chocolate.

Jenn, a girl whom I've been discipling the past 2 years, is extremely talented at baking. She made lovely treats for everyone- cookie monster cupcakes!

God has been amazing this year working in all the individuals in this group. I've come to love them like my own children, and God has growned them a lot since the beginning of the year. Will miss this bunch a lot!

2009-11-15T16:43:00.000+11:00

Something that never occurred to me before

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog contains all the letters of the alphabet!
Amazing what you learn while reading the Good Weekend quiz.

2009-11-12T22:30:00.004+11:00

The Coolest Waterslide Ever

Every week when I watch The Amazing Race I imagine whether I, along with Jonny could do the all challenges in each episode. I was watching this week's episode, with the final challenge which involved going down an "insane water slide that runs through shark-infested waters”. I was like, that is the coolest waterslide ever!

A couple in this week's episode came last because the girl had a fear of heights and refused to go down that very slide at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, causing her and her partner to come last and be eliminated from the race. What a shame, heights or not, that slide would've been a sweet relief from the 35 degree heat in Dubai! The slide is almost vertical, and it goes through an aquarium of sharks before spitting you out the other end.

Anyway, I reckon The Amazing Race would be a good test of our relationship.

2009-11-09T20:14:00.000+11:00

Ingrid & Son's wedding

Another one bites the dust! A good friend of mine from highschool, Ingrid, got married last weekend. She and Son had a Catholic wedding ceremony at St Peter's Chanel Church in Hunters Hill. It was good to see all my highschool friends again, with some of them now married or attached, one with a kid; it only seemed like yesterday that Ingrid and a few of us were having the time of our lives on an exchange program in Japan. That was 10 years ago.

And now she's gotten married to the love of her life. Congrats to you both!

2009-11-03T23:11:00.001+11:00

Pre-wedding photoshoot

*Warning* Mushy photos ahead.

Jonny and I went for a photoshoot last month. Euge, who is one of Jonny's groomsmen, is also a professional photographer, and planned to take us to one main place in particular, but then somehow we went to like 5 other places before we got to the main one.

Euge was actually quite happy with the photos he'd taken after this location with the birdcages because he got his 'hero shot'. A 'hero shot' is basically the one photo that a photographer is finally happy with after taking hundreds of photos, that all other photos taken after that doesn't compare to that one. The sunlight was quite powerful. Luckily I didn't wear black underwear that day.

Sitting on a seabed of leaves wasn't all that fun. Goodness knows what kind of creepy crawlies there were under there. I think they were all the leaves growing from the ground or the root of this giant tree which Euge originally wanted us to climb.

In the background of this there were 2 boys fishing, and a yacht with a gay-pride flag which thankfully Euge cut out.

And one more for the kids out there...

2009-11-01T23:47:00.002+11:00

Beep beep

Scanning things are fun.

Gift registry. Done.

2009-10-25T10:39:00.003+11:00

More October happenings...

1. Last MTS Women's Training of the year
2. Meeting up with one of the 1st year girls in my group at Patisse, Waterloo
3. Some of the IBF guys pouring water and flour all over Andy on his birthday
4. One of the team members on the giant swing at Maitland Alive weekend away
5. FOCUS MTSer's Social dinner & games at Josh's place
6. Celebrating parent's anniversary and Fat's birthday at Woolloomooloo

2009-10-18T22:49:00.000+11:00

Wedding planning update

Done-
Secured Church + Reception venue
Got wedding dress
Got bridesmaid dresses
Got the groom's suits
Secured groomsmen suit hire
Got photographers
Signed up for a gift registry
Marriage counselling sessions
Secured a celebrant & speaker
Wedding bands
Wedding cake
Engagement photoshoot
Apartment to live

In progress-
Wedding dress (at the dressmakers atm)
Finalizing guest list
Designing the invitations
Looking for decoration ideas
Joe & Co looking into the liquor
Honeymoon destinations

Have yet to-
Finalize gift registry
Buy envelopes
Buy shoes
Find a nice evening dress
Find a videographer
Book a makeup artist + hairdresser

2009-10-13T00:05:00.000+11:00

This is a wicked and depraved world

So the past week, a lot of fuss was made about the blackface skit on Hey Hey It's Saturday. During the show's Red Faces talent segment, five men were covered in black face paint and black wigs and re-enacted their skit Jackson Jive, which appeared years ago when Hey Hey was originally on air. Harry Connick Jr, who made a guest appearance, took offence to the skit and forced an apology during Hey Hey's second reunion special last night. So naturally it was made quite a fuss on the news, about the skit being 'racist'.

Now what really got me is not cos the skit seemed 'racist' to African Americans, but that nowadays we choose what we want to be tolerant about. So it seems that putting underwear and tampon ads featuring topless women on the sides of bus stops is ok, but racism isn't. It seems like the sexualisation of women is ok, but we put more than necessary effort to keep our children from the prey of paedophiles. And apparently you can't say same-sex marriages are an abomination to God, because that would seem to be 'intolerant'. (Apparently that was made a big fuss by this year's Miss California who openly spoke about her views opposing gay marriages, that threatened her position in the competition).

So yes, it's quite interesting yet sad to see what this society chooses to tolerant about. It's pretty much "I'll tolerate anything that suits my lifestyle". We live in the last days that are godless, wicked and immoral. This reminded me of what I've been reading about in 2 Timothy 3-

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."

Come Lord Jesus.

2009-10-07T18:52:00.005+11:00

What's been happening at FOCUS lately

1. IBF Common Hour- Jonny leading an icebreaker game called 'Amazonian Women'
2. Fellow MTSer Andy preparing a sushi meal for IBF Leaders social
3. Happy little vegemites at Combined Unichurches
4. FOCUS Baptisms- around 10-15 people got baptised that day in an inflatable pool at the Physics Lawn
5. Jenn & Andrew interviewing Ben & Faith for the upcoming mission spot video
6. Phillip Jensen speaking at his last Challenge Conference
7. The IBF contingent at SPUR Challenge Conference
8. My FOCUS Team group showing off their certificiates after finishing the 10-week Follow Up course

2009-10-05T23:06:00.000+11:00

SPUR Conference 2009

2009-09-29T22:51:00.002+10:00

Inconsistencies about Vampire movies

Since Twilight, the inconsistencies are evident in other B-grade American vampire TV shoes such like Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

In Twilight, vampires
- sparkle in the sunlight
- are able to enter through doorways
- have superhuman strength
- are white, pasty and cold
- are damn goodlooking
- have trouble controlling their thirst for blood at the sight of humans
- can be killed besides just a stake through the heart

In The Vampire Diaries, vampires
- don't sparkle in the sunlight
- can't enter through doorways unless they've been invited
- they're not white and pasty-looking
- garlic & water does nothing
- don't have any references to their superiors- like The Volturi
- whenever you see a black crow and fog, vampires are present
- they like wearing black and leather jackets
- they rely on their special rings for superhuman strength

Ok I'm sure there are many more, but the one thing they have in common is- why is it always the guy who's the vampire who is attracted to the girl?

2009-09-22T23:18:00.003+10:00

September stuff

Things that have happened this month... in pictures...

1. Had dinner with Steph and Jude at Eleven's Kitchen Cellar at King Street Wharf. Even though SMH gave it a good review of the food, the portions of the dishes was definitely not good for value. You pay $39 for 3 dishes to share amongst 3 people, and the portions were so tiny, that one dish could've been an entree. The experience was abysmal!
2. Father's Day Dinner- I enjoyed a lovely home-cooked meal with my folks. Sometimes I enjoy special occasion dinners at home rather than going out to eat, cos it means I get to eat this!
3. Grandad's birthday- at the usual Burwood restaurant, the usual food and pink bums for dessert.
4. Pho Wednesdays with Siew Mun and Shirley. I meet up with these girls at uni on Wednesdays and I got them hooked on pho. I prefer the pho in the Roundhouse better than the pho in the Pavillion.
5. Nate's Supporter's Morning Tea- Nate sharing what he's been up to and what he'll be doing during his 2 years of ministry training.
6. Jonny and I went out to dinner at Velero to celebrate our 18 months together. We love tapas!
7. I gave a talk and seminar on 'Piracy, Greed and Godliness' at the IBF Girl's Event. It was really encouraging talking to some girls afterwards, as they knew there were things in their lives they needed to change.
8. Chuch Dinner at Erica Indonesian Restaurant. The food is quite good here, but we had to wait for an hour for our food! We ordered at around 7.45pm and the last person didn't get their dish until 9pm!

2009-09-12T00:20:00.003+10:00

A Breather

This week I had 2 days of holiday due to the mid semester break at uni. Jonny and I decided to have a daytrip out in the city, go to Shark Island and have a picnic. Shark Island is a picnic area on small island in the middle of Sydney Harbour between Mosman and Watsons Bay. When we went to Matilda Cruises to get tickets, the lady at the counter says,"You know, there's really nothing there." To which we replied,"We know- that's why we're bringing stuff there."

Great day and beautiful views all around.

2009-09-10T00:06:00.001+10:00

Courage

Today I did something big.

2009-09-08T00:03:00.000+10:00

Shawna's surprise 21st birthday

Yet another surprise birthday party at IBF. This time it was for Shawna- one of the girls in my bible study group. A lot of effort went into this party- there was a decorations team, a food team, and transport team- and the details were all organised by her boyfriend and lovely housemates. There were cupcakes, prawn cocktails and wine on the spread. And it was a successful surprise and a gorgeous day indeed!

I'm loving the photos- lots of colour!

2009-09-07T21:48:00.003+10:00

I finally did

I finally got my last dose of gardasil injection today. I'm so relieved because I hate needles. So I'm done! That's one less cancer I have to worry about anytime soon.
On that train of thought, I'm thankful to be living in a country in which its government supplies generous assistance and care to the general public like fee help, baby bonuses, first-home buyers grants, stimulus packages, and free vaccines.

2009-09-02T19:33:00.000+10:00

Two Babies in a week

In the past week, 2 of the women at IBF have given birth! Amanda gave birth to her first child, Erin Ashley and Agnes gave birth to her second child, a boy, Toby.

I still can't believe women are physically able to push little human beings out of their bodies. What a miracle.

2009-08-23T20:16:00.000+10:00

Too much cake!

This month, my BS group, the Cookie Monsters have been eating so much cake! Every week, there's some cause to buy/bake a cake to celebrate. And they were all cleverly -orchestrated surprises as well. Party animals they are!

2009-08-21T20:03:00.000+10:00

On the mend

It was one rough week. Every bit of my pride has been stripped away.
God has taught me a lot about myself. I will make changes. Saying sorry is a hard thing to do.

2009-08-16T23:57:00.000+10:00

Hanging by a thread

I haven't been down this particular road much, if at all. But when one major part of your life is hanging by thread, it affects a lot of other things too.
Funny how it ended down like this but I'm praying that it will all be good one day.